Pizarro: Girl power reigns at Athena Camps

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Athena Camps founder Aby Ryan, left, and San Jose camp director MoniquePangalinan watch campers practice their soccer skills while others work onbasketball at River Glen School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, July 24, 2015. (SalPizarro/Staff)

When Aby Ryan’s daughter was starting kindergarten, she could see cliques already forming among the 5-year-olds. But the longtime tennis coach also saw a need and an opportunity, and Athena Camps was born at that moment.

“I wanted to start a camp that combined the life lessons of sports with a discussion and art-based curriculum,” said Ryan, who lives in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood.

Now in its fifth year, Athena Camps is a summer program exclusively for girls in kindergarten through eighth grade that seems to have arrived just as conversations about girl power reached their peak.

Nearly 1,000 girls (in the interest of disclosure, that includes my 5-year-old daughter) attended at least one of the 8 one-week sessions at sites in San Jose, Los Gatos and Los Altos.

Clad in orange or pink shirts, the girls learn the basics of volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis and even yoga. In between sessions, they work on art projects and have discussions about their feelings and the world around them. The idea is to empower the girls without running away from their femininity.

When she was working out the concept, Ryan turned to her two goddaughters, preteens at the time, who became an impromptu focus group over a Starbucks visit.

Add arts and crafts to the camp, they said, to attract girls who were into more than sports. And Ryan’s planned name, “Sunshine Sports,” had to go. They suggested naming it for a goddess. When Ryan looked up Athena and saw she was a Greek Olympian and the goddess of wisdom, strength and the arts, she knew they were on the right track.

“It’s turned into a lot more than I expected it to be,” said Ryan, who watched the program grow by about 30 percent each year. (Get more details about the camps at www.athenacamps.org.) Ryan says she’s always liked serving as a mentor, but she’s been surprised how rewarding it’s been to watch the camps’ young coaches and directors develop into leaders.

One of them is Monique Pangalinan, director of the San Jose camp at River Glen School. The 28-year-old San Jose native lives in San Diego where she’s pursuing a degree in public health at San Diego State, but she returns to her hometown every summer for Athena Camps.

“It’s all about the equality and the uniqueness of the girls,” she said. “So much of the world is focused on female negativity. We’re focused on what’s positive. We want to empower these girls and build the confidence to turn them into world leaders.”

FIGHTING DEPRESSION FROM THE STAGE: Bay Area comedian and radio host Brian Copeland’s show “The Waiting Period” deals with suicidal depression and how Copeland fell into a very dark place in 2008 but managed to come out the other end.

The show — its title refers to the 10-day waiting period before you can legally take possession of a firearm — premiered at the Marsh theater in San Francisco in 2012, and now Copeland and the theater have partnered on a Go Fund Me page to raise $150,000 so the show can be performed free once a week for a whole year.

The campaign is especially aimed at young people who could be helped by the show’s message but might not have the money for a ticket. The campaign had raised more than $26,000 toward its goal as of Friday (donations can be made at http://www.gofundme.com/xknytk).

“Other than raising my kids, it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done,” said Copeland, who will also receive this year’s Legend of Comedy Award at Comedy Day in San Francisco on Sept. 20.

The show is currently playing Sunday nights at the Altarena Playhouse in Alameda through Aug. 9.

ANOTHER ROUND OF DRINKS: Cache Bouren and his team at Haberdasher — the San Jose bar formerly known as Singlebarrel — had a well-attended soiree Monday night to introduce the new watering hole to San Jose’s cocktail crowd.

Customers who had been turned off by Singlebarrel’s speakeasy-inspired rules will find Haberdasher a much better fit. The stylish menu even recommends asking a bartender for a phone charger if needed.

Meanwhile, award-winning Fairmont San Jose bartender Darin Gile has been working on a new cocktail for the hotel’s Lobby Lounge that’s meant to bring back childhood memories of the frothy drinks at Orange Julius. He’s still perfecting the recipe for what he initially called the Orange Delirious. But during a tasting session last weekend, we came up with a better name befitting the classy downtown hotel: The Orange Jewel.

COMINGS AND GOINGS: JW House has a new executive director, Larissa Robideaux, who took the reins last month of overseeing the home-away-from-home at Kaiser Santa Clara for families with kids undergoing treatment. Robideaux had previously served as director of program operations and development for Easter Seals Bay Area and was an early intervention manager for Hope Services.

Hospice of the Valley, meanwhile, is welcoming Paula J. Alderson as its new president and CEO, taking over for Sally Adelus, who spent 12 years at the helm of the nonprofit. Alderson comes to Hospice of the Valley after serving as president of TrustBridge, a Florida health care company formed from the merger of Hospice by the Sea and Hospice of Palm Beach County.

Adelus won’t be going far, as she’s started a new consulting venture and will continue to serve as chair of Hospice of the Valley’s professional advisory board.

Finally, Jan Half retired at the end of June, closing the book on a 40-year career that started with a teaching job in rural Illinois and included the past 12 years as director of MOUSE Squad of California (MSCA).

“I feel very comfortable leaving for this next phase of my life, knowing that MSCA is on an upswing with 135 sites statewide, and that MSCA has an awesome team, under the program management of Andrea Jones,” Half said.

Sal Pizarro has written the Around Town column for The Mercury News since 2005. His column covers the people and events surrounding the cultural scene in Silicon Valley. In addition, he writes Cocktail Chronicles, a feature column on Silicon Valley bars and nightclubs.